The database for international comparison of the national law on Covered Bonds

In order to improve understanding of the national law on Covered Bonds, the vdp together with the members of the Round Table Covered Bond Legislation (RTCBL), have developed the unique database vdpcoveredbond.

The Database contains comprehensive information about the present legal regime applicable to issuers of Covered Bonds in more than 20 countries.

This complex material is presented in a series of maps on which countries which take the same approach are coloured the same. This allows the user to see the similarities and differences between legal systems at a glance in an overview. Furthermore, many questions in the database give valuable information on the compliance with and different approaches taken by national regulators on the implementation and transposition of the European Covered Bond Directive (CBD).

The members of the Round Table continue to develop new maps setting out answers to questions regarding the legal regime of Covered Bonds. Over the time, these will be made publicly available here localhost.test.

Objectives and working methods of the Round Table on Covered Bond Legislation

The Round Table Covered Bond Legislation aims to make a scholarly contribution to comparative examination of the areas of law which are significant for Covered Bonds.

Since 2010, the Round Table has met several times per year for workshops, conducted in English. The results of this work can be found in the Database vdpcoveredbond. The database contains information on about 20 countries which is useful when examining the major country differences in Covered Bond law.

For this purpose, a catalogue of multiple-choice questions is used. The members of the Round Table develop the questions and answers for each area of law and ensure that there is a suitable answer for each system. A key challenge in this process is keeping the number of answers for each question as low as possible but nonetheless wide-ranging enough to allow an appropriate answer for each country.

Some questions are accompanied by an explanation setting out the background and underlying intention of the questions. Members of the Round Table can also add comments, cross referencing the relevant articles in national law, or explaining their choice of answer or identifying particular details that cannot be expressed in the concise form of the multiple-choice answers. These explanations and comments are visible to all users of the database.

The Database

The structure of the Database.

The results of the Round Table’s work are collected in the Database vdpcoveredbond and published online. The internal database (into which members enter their answers) is arranged into 15 chapters, each devoted to a different legal topic.

1. Covered Bond Legislation Overview
2. Covered Bond Models
3. Cover Assets for Covered Bonds
4. Valuation of the Mortgaged Real Estate & LTV Criteria
5. Covered Bonds as Securities
6. Covered Bond specific Asset-liability Guidelines
7. Transparency
8. Public Supervision of CB issuers, Cover Pool Monitor
9. Resolution procedures over CB issuers
10. Insolvency procedures over CB issuers
11. Special questions on CB-Model 1
12. Special questions on CB-Model 4
13. Special questions on CB-Pooling-Models
14. Compliance with European Regulation
15. Commitment of Covered Bond Issuers

Hitherto, many questions have been incorporated into the public database and are therefore available online. More questions and chapters will be added to the public database gradually.

The questions in a given chapter may not all be published simultaneously. Rather, publication of some will be delayed where, for instance, changes in national rules mean that particular questions or answers are no longer appropriate for some systems. These delays explain why the numbering within particular chapters of the public database is not continuous.

Presentation through Mapping

The answers to each of the questions are displayed on a map of Europe in which each country is shown with a colour corresponding to the answer given for the relevant question. This provides for a readily comprehensible comparative overview even in cases where the question is quite complex.

Shortcomings

Multiple-choice questions have significant advantages in facilitating the presentation of the material in a readily comprehensible and accessible manner. Certain disadvantages must, however, be acknowledged.

– Questions and answers must be expressed briefly and therefore cannot capture complex situations. In principle, the answers should be appropriate for multiple legal systems. Some exceptions and details of national law will not be captured and new introductions into national law may not have been incorporated into the answers.

– Only one answer can be given for each legal system. If a country has several types of Covered Bonds or different types of issuers, one must be chosen and (nearly) all of the questions answered on that basis. It is not appropriate to answer some questions by reference to one type of Covered Bond or issuer and others by reference to another: this would make little practical sense.

Members of the Round Table Covered Bond Legislation

The members of the Round Table Covered Bond Legislation are bankers, analysts and lawyers. They work independently and voluntarily on their answers to the questions. The RT members have permanent access to the database and update the information regarding their legal system when needed. Although the members are from many countries, the decision on the answers and whether to publish questions are made by the RT as a group.

Show Members

Access the database

The following link will take you to the database: rtcbl.pfandbrief.de